This invention relates to devices for picking up balls without stooping over and more particularly to a device at the handle of a tennis racket that easily picks up and releases a tennis ball.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,254,275 teaches a recess at the handle end of a tennis racket having a contour corresponding to the ball. The recess is lined with an adhesive for sticking to the ball. However, the adhesive will become coated with clay, dirt, water and the like and thereby lose its ability to pick up the ball. Furthermore, the adhesive may transfer to the ball under certain conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,666 describes a plurality of hooks as exemplified by the hooked portion of a hook-and-pile mating means trademarked VELCRO that is rigidly mounted on the rim or directly on the strings of the racket. A ball engaging surface of this material great enough to lift the ball may disturb the balance of the racket. Many patents describe spring fingers that reach at least to the diameter of a ball or beyond to engage a ball as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 266,598; 802,264; 3,698,720; 4,334,707; 4,398,716 and U.K. No. 2,128,484. In order to reach at least to the diameter of a ball as large as a tennis ball, the fingers must be of a length, or mounted apart so widely as to disturb the normal operation of the racket.